Strange
by WilderKaiserin
Summary: There are plenty of different views of Hikaru Himuro, but they all agree on one thing. There's definitely something strange about him. One-shot, no pairings.


Well, I've become addicted to a character even more obscure than Zane…wow.

Y'know, a lot of my regular readers would be surprised by this, but few people actually recognize Kaiser. I would know; I actually _was_ Kaiser for Anime Boston 2007, and like no one noticed me. Two of those who did called me _Alexis_, and I corrected them loudly while giving myself a concussion on a concrete wall. I am, admittedly, a girl, but my hair was _blue_, for Pete's sake! And I was wearing _pants_ and a _levitating trenchcoat _with _sleeves_! How can that _not_ be Zane!?

I did get my ten minutes of fame, though; at one point on the second day, I got mobbed by fangirls. Tiny taste of what he used to get every day, and I'll tell ya something…when it happens every day, it probably sux, but when you've been ignored all your life, it feels pretty awesome to be loved.

God, this is a long rant that has nothing to do with the story I'm going to write about Hikaru Himuro…

**Disclaimer:** Though she has ordered the Dragon Drive series in its entirety this morning, and though she would like to very much, Alu does not own the gorgeous, completely psychotic Hikaru Himuro. Or the rights to Dragon Drive. Phooie.

**Strange**

People had plenty of different views of the Himuro kid—his teachers thought him brilliant, but unmotivated; his classmates saw him as an obstacle they could never overcome—but everyone who met him agreed on one thing.

There was definitely something strange about him.

Everything he did showed it—his habits, mannerisms—everything about him all but screamed of strangeness.

He wasn't normal.

No one even knew where he'd come from. He had showed up at school one year, been introduced, and almost settled into the routine.

Almost, but not quite.

There was nothing routine about Himuro, nothing at all. He didn't speak at all, never seemed to listen either, but if a teacher called him, intending to catch him off-guard, he answered instantly and accurately as though he'd been hanging on every word.

The feelings toward him ranged from awe to admiration, jealousy to resentment, but no one saw the face, behind the cool, stoic mask.

Sumishiba hated him, hated the genius who stood between him and the title "ichiban" that him mother had impressed the importance of upon him since early childhood.

And he never even seemed to _try_—everything was effortless for Hikaru Himuro.

Later, he discovered Dragon Drive, and in it, his calling. The dull monotony of high school education lost its appeal as he rose through the ranks of the game and rested at its peak, and he left the plain gray buildings behind, depriving his school of its best student.

Of course, this only heightened Sumishiba's feelings of resentment for the champion he could never seem to overcome.

Finally, even Dragon Drive lost its appeal, as hundreds fell before Hikaru's partner dragon's blades, and the champion retreated, bored, to the darkened room in the empty house, where the only light came from his computer screen.

And then that email from _her_, Agent L, had changed his life forever.

As Hikaru watched the clip from Oozora's first Dragon Drive, his dull eyes brightened, awakened the passion for the game at which he was king.

Perhaps this child would be able to challenge him in a way no other had or ever would. Sumishiba, so fearsome in the eyes of other players, was a joke in Hikaru's.

As he entered Ryugujo for the first time in months, awed whispers erupted from the other players, as well as those who came only as spectators. Some were new, and did not recognize the champion in their midst.

"That's Himuro," the older ones whispered, setting off a chain, a wave of such whispers all around the stadium. Within minutes, everyone knew of his presence.

Everyone but the clueless rookie watching his own win video on a computer.

And in that later Dragon Drive of three, where only two had dared challenge him, Hikaru Himuro had his first taste of fear.

Not from Sumishiba; though he had not expected the second-ranked player to be a pawnbringer, Hikaru could handle four dragons as easily as one.

It was of Oozora, with that tiny, pathetic little dragon, that Hikaru felt fear.

And with that fear awoke an obsession: he had to defeat Oozora, at any cost.

Work for Rion, possibly end both worlds—why not? It wasn't as if he cared about anyone on Earth or in Ri-kyuu, or as if anyone cared about him.

Defeating Oozora was his life now, his only reason to go on.

Yes, Himuro was just a bit strange.

**END**

Whoa. That was…weird. _Really_ weird. Like Hikaru-kun's head…yeah, he's totally psycho; watch episode 15 for evidence. Why oh _why_ do all the cool, calm, collected and gorgeous guys have to be psychotic, _why_!? I mean, I'm crazy, too, but not _that_ crazy…XP


End file.
